Public viewing for Queen Elizabeth begins at Westminster Hall
Queen will lie in state for 4 days ahead of funeral
Queen Elizabeth left Buckingham Palace for the last time on Wednesday, her coffin carried on a horse-drawn carriage and saluted by cannons and the tolling of Big Ben, in a solemn procession through the flag-draped, crowd-lined streets of London to Westminster Hall. There, Britain's longest-serving monarch will lie in state for the world to mourn.
Her son, King Charles, and his siblings and sons marched behind the coffin, which was topped by a wreath of white roses and her crown resting on a purple velvet pillow.
The military procession from the palace underscored the Queen's seven decades as head of state as the national mourning process shifted to the grand boulevards and historic landmarks of the U.K. capital.
Crowds shuffled past her coffin in the centre of 900-year-old Westminster Hall well into the night. People flowed in two lines, with hundreds of thousands expected to pay their respects before her state funeral on Monday.
They moved silently in a steady pace down the steps of the hall under a great stained-glass window, then past the coffin that was covered with the Royal Standard and had been placed on a raised platform known as a catafalque by eight pallbearers.
There were couples and parents with children, veterans with medals clinking on navy blue blazers, lawmakers and members of the House of Lords. Some wore black or suits and ties, others jeans and sneakers, and all had waited hours to stand in front of the coffin for a few moments.
Many bowed or curtseyed, and some were in tears.
Thousands of people who had waited for the procession for hours along The Mall outside the palace and other locations along the route held up phones and cameras, and some wiped away tears, as the casket rolled by. Applause broke out as it went through Horse Guards Parade. Thousands more sat in nearby Hyde Park watching on large screens.
The coffin was draped in the Royal Standard and topped with the Imperial State Crown — adorned with almost 3,000 diamonds — and a bouquet of flowers and plants, including pine from the Balmoral Estate, where Elizabeth died last week at the age of 96.
Two officers and 32 troops from the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards in red uniforms and bearskin hats walked on either side of the gun carriage.
The 38-minute procession ended at Westminster Hall, where Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby led a short service attended by Charles and other royals.
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you," Welby said, reading from the Gospel of John.
WATCH | King Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry escort the Queen's coffin:
After a short service, the captain of the Queen's Company 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, assisted by a senior sergeant, laid the Royal Standard of the regiment on the steps of the catafalque.
Four officers from the Household Cavalry — two from the Life Guards and two from the Blues Royals — began the first vigil around the coffin, taking their places at the corner and bowing their heads.
Thousands had queued up along the banks of the River Thames, waiting to enter the hall and pay their respects.
The crowds are the latest manifestation of the nationwide outpouring of grief and respect for the only monarch most Britons have ever known after her 70 years on the throne.
Esther Ravenor, a Kenyan who lives in the U.K., said she was humbled as she watched the procession.
"I love the Queen, I love the Royal Family, and you know, I had to be here," she said. "She is a true role model. She loved us all, all of us. Especially someone like me, a migrant woman coming to the U.K. 30 years ago, I was allowed to be here and to be free and safe, so I really honour her. She was a big part of my life."
Maj.-Gen. Christopher Ghika of the Household division, who organized the ceremonial aspects of the Queen's funeral, said it was "our last opportunity to do our duty for the Queen and it's our first opportunity to do it for the King, and that makes us all very proud."
Troops involved in the procession had been preparing since the Queen died. So had the horses of the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery.
Sgt. Tom Jenks, from the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, said the horses were specially trained, including how to handle weeping mourners, as well as flowers and flags being tossed in front of the procession.
London's Heathrow Airport temporarily halted flights, saying it would "ensure silence over central London as the ceremonial procession moves from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall."
Thousands at Scotland viewing
Crowds have lined the route of the Queen's coffin whenever it has been moved in its long journey from Scotland to London.
On Tuesday night, thousands braved a typical London drizzle as the state hearse, with interior lights illuminating the casket, drove slowly from a military air base into the heart of London.
Earlier, in Edinburgh, some 33,000 people filed in silent respect past her coffin as it lay for 24 hours at St. Giles' Cathedral.
By Wednesday afternoon, the line snaking along the banks of the River Thames was nearly five kilometres long, according to a government tracker.
The hall is where Guy Fawkes and Charles I were tried, where kings and queens hosted magnificent medieval banquets and where ceremonial addresses were presented to Queen Elizabeth during her silver, golden and diamond jubilees.
Corrections
- An earlier version of this story indicated that the procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall was 16 kilometres long. In fact, 16 kilometres is the length that officials warned the line for public viewing could potentially reach.Sep 14, 2022 12:29 PM ET
